Sacramento, CA – The following is a statement from California Democratic Party (CDP) Acting Chair Alexandra “Alex” Gallardo Rooker on the process for electing a new Chair of the Party:

As the CDP’s acting Chair, it is my duty to ensure that the Party selects its next Chair through an orderly, transparent, and democratic process. As required by the By-laws, the election for the next Chair will occur at the next State Convention, which will take place from May 31 – June 2, 2019 in San Francisco. All eligible members of the Democratic State Central Committee (the “DSCC”) will have the opportunity to vote for Chair at the Convention.

The election for Chair will be governed by election rules that are substantially similar[1] to the rules used at multiple previous conventions, with the exception of the fact that this election will be limited to the office of Chair. [A copy of the 2013 and 2017 rules will be posted on the CDP website: www.cadem.org]

Any candidate seeking to become Chair must file their “notice of intent-to-run” with the CDP’s Secretary, Jenny Bach (Secretary@cadem.org), by 5:00 pm on May 16th, 2019. If a candidate receives a majority of the votes of the DSCC membership, that candidate will become our Chair. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, a runoff between the top-two vote getters will be held. The winner of that round of balloting will become Chair. The winner of the election will serve the remainder of Eric Bauman’s term, which ends in 2021.

In addition to being required by the by-laws, this plan is in the best interests of the Party. The party leaders and counsel with whom I have spoken, including long-time Rules Committee Co-Chair, Garry Shay, agrees with the course of action. According to Garry, ‘when a statewide officer vacancy occurs, the By-Laws require an election be held at the next statewide convention. Therefore, a new Chair must be elected at CDP’s May Convention.’

I look forward to welcoming everyone in May to the CDP Convention in San Francisco, when all of our DSCC Delegates will have the opportunity to make their voices heard and elect a new Chair of our beloved Party.